She is adamant that strong writing and the ability to present an argument are major assets in today’s world.

“We need to be investing in the humanities. It’s skills that we need as a country,” she said.

Sunday’s event was hosted by Books & Books to promote “Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power,” which spent five weeks atop the bestseller list when Maddow released the hardcover edition last year.

In it, Maddow analyzes the changing nature of war, and how the U.S. has seemingly come to accept being in perpetual conflict.

On the subject of politics, Maddow lamented that political rhetoric between parties might not improve.

She suggested that the U.S. House, for example, is hindered during elections by the “crazy gerrymandered system where representatives only have to talk to the people on their side.”

Her book illustrates the need for change in the way Americans approach national security.

“We underestimate people’s passion for the issue,” she said. “People do care.”

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The Miami Hurricane is the student newspaper of the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Fla. The newspaper is edited and produced by undergraduate students at UM and is published semi-weekly on Mondays and Thursdays during the regular academic year.